Strategy

We work with funders and policy makers to advocate for the role of the arts and culture in the transition to a more environmentally sustainable society and embed sustainable practices at a strategic level.

Mull – Weekend Residency, thinking about Art & Sustainability

12th February 2014

Artist Residency Callout Mull is a multi-disciplinary weekend-long residency which explores the question, ‘What would it mean to be an …

Artist Residency Callout

Mull is a multi-disciplinary weekend-long residency which explores the question, ‘What would it mean to be an artist working in a sustainable Scotland in 50 years’ time?’ through artistic practice and conversation. We’re looking for up to ten artists to apply their curiosity and unique skills to imagining what being an artist in a sustainable Scotland might look like in the future – what that would mean, how it would affect artistic content, what infrastructure it would require in order to function and how artists and the arts will have shaped a sustainable Scotland. Creative Carbon Scotland is partnering with Comar on the beautiful Isle of Mull to mull over these complex questions with artists who may or may not have previously thought about environmental sustainability in relation to their work.

Background and context

Creative Carbon Scotland is a partnership of arts organisations working to put culture at the heart of a sustainable Scotland. We believe artists and cultural organisations have a significant role to play in envisioning, inspiring and influencing a more sustainable Scotland for the 21st century.

Over the past year Creative Carbon Scotland has initiated a number of artistically-led projects including the CO2 Edenburgh exhibition in partnership with Edinburgh Art Festival; a workshop with Imaginate and children’s theatre makers imagining and developing a sustainable children’s theatre network; and more recently Glasgow Green Teas(e).

Building on this, Mull will invite artists to imagine what it would mean to marry creativity and environmental sustainability in their practice. The weekend will be led by facilitators – composer Dave Fennessy and producer Suzy Glass – but will also be steered by those taking part, recognising the relatively untrodden grounds of the questions we’re asking.

The residency has a number of objectives:

To provide artists who may or may not have previously thought about environmental sustainability in their practice with the space and stimuli to consider how it might drive new ways of working;

To create a ‘greenprint’ of the skills and ways of working that might constitute a sustainable artistic practice;

To use this ‘greenprint’ as the starting point for thinking about how Creative Carbon Scotland and the cultural sector can best support and work with artists in this capacity;

To nurture a creative network which embeds environmental sustainability at its core.

What will it involve?

Mull takes the disrupted and changing climate as the starting point for thinking about how artists might do things differently. It asks how the world might look in 50 years’ time and what role artists might play in the changes to come as well as what unique skills they can bring to this new context. Considering approaches to making art, as well the actual content and the infrastructure it lives within, we’ll work to imagine the future and understand the necessary steps towards it to stimulate some initial responses to these questions. By the end of the weekend we’ll open up our ‘greenprint’ and ideas to a wider public discussion.

What we’re looking for

We’re looking for inquisitive artists who can bring big ideas to a group setting and who are keen to ask questions of themselves and established ways of working. The residency is open to artists from any discipline, whether or not they have previously considered environmental sustainability in their approach to working.

What to expect

Artists should expect a relatively open-format two days with facilitation by the group as well as Dave and Suzy. There may be the opportunity for some artists to lead a ‘session’ during the weekend, bringing a particular response or angle to theme of environmental sustainability and artistic practice. Artists will not be expected to develop or produce anything specific during the two days– the residency is about being thoughtful. On the final evening, we’ll open the doors to a public conversation with the opportunity for presentation of a ‘greenprint’ and further discussion.

The residency will take place from Friday 28th – Monday 31st March 2014 at Comar on Isle of Mull, leaving Edinburgh or Glasgow midday on 28th and returning early afternoon on 31st March. Participants will be paid £100 for their attendance and travel expenses from within Scotland, accommodation and catering will be covered by Creative Carbon Scotland.

Application

Please read this section carefully and make sure you send the right information with your application.

Applications should include the following information:

Name and contact details (including email address)

An outline of your experience to date (no more than 500 words) and a CV

Some examples of your works or links to them online or related material (for example reviews etc. if your work is not able to be distributed online)

A short outline of why you would like to take part and what you hope to gain from taking part

A short proposal of a ‘session’ you might lead during the residency in response to the question ‘What would it mean to be an environmentally sustainable artist working in Scotland in 2050?’ or a future artwork/project which engages with this question

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